


The Greatest Enemy

by thelatinfangirl



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Demons, F/M, Magic, Mild torture, Slight OOCness, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-13 23:26:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14123112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelatinfangirl/pseuds/thelatinfangirl
Summary: The ninja are suddenly Public Enemy #1, accused of crimes they didn't commit. The police manage to corner them in Stiix, when they are suddenly saved by a mysterious figure. Soon, they'll discover that the new enemy that they'll have to face is nothing like what they've encountered before.(Migration form ff.net. Rewritten)





	1. Prologue

THIRD PERSON POV

Clouse finished drawing the circle on the floor, and stepped back, admiring his work. A five-pointed star, with a few runes in it, surrounded by a perfect circle, all drawn in white chalk. He then proceeded to turn off all lights in the room, and light the five candles on the design, each on one point of the star. He picked up the old, leather-bound book from the floor and opened it to the marked page. He then started chanting out loud the Latin words in the book and watched in amazement as black smoke started to swirl in the middle of the circle.  
Then the smoke started to gain shape, as Clouse kept chanting the verses. An aura of dark power slowly started emanating from inside the circle, shaking the mage up to his core. This was an otherworldly power that shouldn't be messed with.

The smoke had now concentrated right in the middle, and it had somewhat gained shape. A humanoid face, with a pair of horns sprouting from the sides, and the nose and mouth blended together, barely discernible, with its eyes were closed. It had huge bat-like wings sprouting from its back, two arms, and each finger ending in huge claws. The skin had prominently marked veins and was covered in a slimy black goo, and everything below the torso was still too smoky to be able to see well, though something like a tail with spikes was discernible.

Clouse blinked rapidly, trying to get his eyes to focus better on the figure, but it was still too fuzzy due to the smoke. He finished incantating the last few verses and shut the book.  
The eyes of the figure suddenly snapped open, revealing two glowing red orbs. Its mouth spread into a feral grin, and Clouse had a very hard time remaining standing where he was, and not fleeing to the other side of the world. The presence it emanated chilled him to the very bones. Fear unlike anything he'd ever felt before made him shudder, as the creature roared, a sound capable of tearing whole mountains apart if the bearer wished so. And it was then that the mage understood that he had messed with something that was better left untouched. But of course, he now had to face the consequences.

"Who dares summon me?" it spoke directly into Clouse's mind, not emitting another sound.

"I am Clouse, Master of Dark Magic" he answered.

"And why did thee interrupt mine deep slumber?" it grumbled.

"I am requesting your aid, Asmodeus, King of Demons" he gave a slight bow of his head, in a somewhat sign of respect.  
But the one in question didn't even bat an eyelash at the mention of his title.

"If thou know who I am, thee must knoweth the depth of mine powers, and what I can do"

"Yes, your Majesty. That is exactly why I called upon you and not another of your kind"

"Hmm..." the demon stayed silent for a few seconds, assessing the situation, "What dost thee request of myself?"

"You see, I was once a renowned mage, the object of legend in this country, which we nowadays call Ninjago. But this little group of kids playing to be heroes --the ninja, they are called--, defeated me and my master, humiliating us, and sending us to the realm of ghosts, where we would suffer for quite some time. Now that their own stupidity has set me free, I want my revenge" the bitterness in his words were quite obvious as he remembered all that had happened.

"Interesting, but someone driven by revenge is not unheard of. If I were to agree to help in thy little crusade, how would I benefit?"

 

"I can free you from your prison"

"How dost thee know I am not comfortable in my realm?"

"Because I read the lore. And according to the books, you were vanquished, which means you are there against your will. And I know that realm of yours is very unpleasant"

"Hmm... that is true. But what else can thee offer me?"

"Is freedom not enough?"

"No"

"I assumed you would say that. Well, after the ninja are gone, taking over this world will be quite easy. We could split it, and then you'd have your own kingdom again"

"Tempting, but what else?"

"What else?"

He had hoped that freedom and lands would be enough. The book didn't say anything about what would sway demons.

"I am freeing you of your prison, and giving you lands"

"Which I will be battling for, so I believe I am entitled to all of it"

"No. Remember that I am the one that holds the upper hand here"

"Dost thou really?"

Clouse thought about it for a second. The book said that inside the trap, the demon was powerless and wouldn't be able to come out. He preferred that it would be Asmodeus the one helping his cause, but he could always send him back to whatever hellish realm he came from and summon another, less powerful demon. The end goal was the same anyway, no matter the road.

"I'll free you, and your people. You'll have half of the country, and anything on it, including human souls for you to fester on. And as long as you don't interfere with my business, you can expand your lands and conquer new territories"

"And if we fail?"

"I am certain we will not. You are only a small portion of what I have planned"

"What. If. We. Fail?" the demon king said, enunciating clearly each word.

"I will use my dying breath to send you back to your realm, if you wish. Safe from harm's way"

"Not entirely pleasant, but I believe it will have to do. Anything else you require?" it answered in a mocking tone

"I think that covers it. I'll have the contract ready in a few days, and we'll be able to revise it together"

"Good"

"In the meantime, I'll free only two of yours so you can get to know this world better. Feel free to cause chaos. Moderate, though"

"Will thee not free me?"

"When the contract is signed, yes. I don't want you going back on your word. Demons are known for their wickedness, after all"

"Clever little mortal"

_But not clever enough_

"That is all then. I'll summon you when the binding is ready"

And with a snap of Clouse's fingers, the demon vanished, leaving the room eerily quiet. He realized that maybe he didn't have a reason to be so afraid after all. He was in control, and he would make sure that the ninja's downfall would be certain this time.  
He would not fail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> So, I posted this story on ff.net about three years ago. This is a rewrite. I hope you like it.  
> IMPORTANT: since I wrote this fic three years ago, the most recent season was the Morro one. And I don't really feel like adjusting everything for it to be up-to-date. So the djinn season happened, but none of them remember it happening. Everything that comes after never happened (Hans of Time, Sons of Garmadon and the movie). I'll start right when the cops are chasing them through Stiix (rewrite of start of djinn season), except they're being incriminated by another reason. And Cole is still a ghost.  
> The ninjas will act more like teens, not like children. They're gonna be 17 to 19 in my story. Which means there will be kisses and relationships, and a bit more mature scenes. Probably mild torturing. No lemons though. I'll change the rating if I write something too extreme. And, there will be lots of cursing.  
> And it's also been a really long time since I last watched the series, and it's probably gonna take me some time to rewatch it all, so I'm sorry if I don't remember much and get some facts wrong.  
> Review plz! I don't care if it's just "update soon!", I just wanna know if you liked it.  
> I'll shut up now. I'm sorry this AN was long, I just had to explain a few things.  
> Until next time!  
> -Emma


	2. Someone new

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UN-BETA’D

**THIRD PERSON POV**

"The ninja are armed and dangerous and they have powers. If you see them, do not approach, call the law enforcement-" the tv was saying  
Zane pulled out his phone.  
"Hello? Local law enforcement? We are-"  
"Zane! What the hell are you doing?!" Lloyd interrupted him.  
"I am programmed to obey the law, not telling them our location would be a direct violation"  
Jay face-palmed.  
"Hey..." the man sitting on the table next to them approached, "Aren't you-"  
"Nope! Heh, we are not the ninja!" Jay exclaimed nervously "We are another random group with a ghost... a girl... a nindroid..."  
The ninja got up from the table and slowly backed away.  
"Six on six, at least it's an even number," Kai said, trying to be optimistic.  
"We're not gonna fight them!" Lloyd said, "Right now it's us who look like the bad guys"  
"I'm afraid he's right" Nya agreed.  
"How are we supposed to defend ourselves then?" Jay said.  
"We... don't?" Lloyd said tentatively.  
They turned and started to run.  
"I liked them better when they were fans!" Kai said, causing Nya to roll her eyes at his comment.  
They ran from alley to alley but found themselves facing the cops in every direction, so instead decided to climb up the wall and continue their escape by rooftop. But even then, the cops and civilians followed.  
"Keep going guys!"  
"They sure are dedicated"  
The roofs led them directly into the sea, so they climbed back down, only to find themselves surrounded again.  
"There's nowhere to hide!" Cole said in a panic.  
"There may be one place," Kai said. "Ninja-GO!"  
He spinjitzued a hole down the floor, and they all climbed underneath the docks.  
"They're under the floorboards!" a cop said, quick to catch up to the ninja's plan.  
The ninja kept moving towards open sea, running out of time, so Lloyd decided to call the Bounty.  
"Mom, we're in a bit of a jam," he said.  
"I saw the news. I'm on my way" Misako answered from the flying ship "Looks like you've gone from fame to-"  
"We're not gonna find out who did this to us unless we get outta here!" Lloyd interrupted her, deciding he didn't have time for one of her spontaneous lessons.  
Above the wooden floor, another civilian called "I can hear them from here!"  
"Everyone get on those cranes!" another one said "Let's find those damned ninja"  
The civilians and cops proceeded to drop the cranes down, shattering the floorboards and missing the ninja by inches.  
"We're out of road!" Nya said, as they finally reached the end of the docks, with only sea extending beyond.  
"Follow me!" Lloyd says as he jumped onto one crane, which slowly elevated them out of view.  
The people below kept searching, just as the Destiny Bounty approached the area.  
"Home sweet home!" Kai pointed to the ship.  
They all let out a breath of relief. Salvation had come.  
"Bring her down!" a cop called as the people threw rope and rocks, making the ship crash, Misako in it.  
"No!" Lloyd yelled.  
Kai let out a string of curses, earning himself a smack on the back of his head by Nya. He glared at her, but then decided there were more pressing matters at hand.  
"Bring down those cranes and check them, those fruit-colored bastards could be hiding anywhere!" a cop yelled.  
"What do we do now?" Jay asked, suddenly panicking.  
"We need to split up," Lloyd said, already regretting making the choice.  
"Split up?" Cole argued "But we're all in this together"  
"We only have a real chance of getting out of here if we divide," Lloyd countered.  
"Bad things always happen when we split up!" Jay said "Chen's island, Yang's temple, Morro's possession. See? All bad things!"  
"We have no other choice!" Lloyd argued back "We have to go! Now! Unless you wanna get caught"  
Suddenly, a bright light flashed, blinding them all, including the cops below the cranes. A hooded figure landed softly on the crane the ninja were standing on.  
"Follow me," the newcomer said upon arrival.  
Lloyd blinked rapidly, trying to get his eyes to adjust.  
"Who the heck are you?" Kai asked.  
"Look, it's either you let yourselves get caught, split up and know for sure that something bad will happen, or take a leap of faith and follow me," the stranger said.  
"How do we know you're not leading us into a trap, huh?" Jay asked.  
"It's six against one, you can easily overpower me if I really am evil. But right now, I'm your best choice at getting away safely"  
The ninja exchanged uncertain glances. They argued silently for a few seconds, but then decided they were running out of time.  
"Fine. Lead the way" Lloyd said.  
The stranger nodded "Close your eyes"  
They did as told, and saw another flash of light through their closed lids, and thankfully this time they weren't blinded.  
It bought them the seconds they needed to jump to a nearby rooftop unnoticed, while the cops were still blinded. They kept to the shadows and made sure they were far away enough that they wouldn't be noticed when they summoned their elemental dragons. Surprisingly, the newcomer had one too.  
They decided to keep following her, in what appeared to be the direction of Ninjago City.  
It appears she is another elemental master. PIXAL said inside Zane's head.  
"I figured as much, too" he answered "Except I don't recall seeing her at Chen's"  
I don't either. I do believe we can trust her, but be careful.  
"I know"  
Something about all of this just doesn't seem right. I don't think we're gonna be facing the usual villains this time.  
"What do you mean by that?"  
Just, I don't know. Instinct?  
"Figure that out, and then tell me. I too feel like something really bad will happen"  
His conversation had to be cut short though, as they had reached the outer parts of the city, and had to dismount or risk attracting too much attention for themselves. They traveled on the roofs and shadows until they reached a small apartment, which they entered through a window.  
The apartment only had a small kitchen and living room, with a door to one side which should lead to the bedroom. But the whole place was a mess.  
Sheets and pillows sprawled on the couch, empty soda and beer cans and cookie wrappers on the coffee table, bags of trash in the kitchen that hadn't been taken out, dirty dishes piling up in the kitchen sink, a few weapons lying around...  
"Sorry. I wasn't really expecting visitors" the hooded one scratched the back of her neck sheepishly "I just saw the news and headed over to Stiix as fast as I could, didn’t have time to clean up. A second too late and you'd have been caught, apparently"  
She then proceeded to take out a new garbage bag and stuff in all of the mess. It only took her about five minutes to put everything away, throwing the bags into the bedroom. She then headed to the kitchen and opened the fridge.  
"Can I offer you anything? Beer? Soda? Food?"  
Jay was about to accept a beer when Lloyd spoke:  
"We're good, thanks"  
"Suit yourselves" She popped open a Coca-Cola, and pulled back her hood.  
She had dark brown hair, which was pulled back into a messy bun, gray eyes, and a few freckles decorating her nose. She looked about eighteen, give or take. The only things that marred her beauty was a greenish scar crossing her left eye.  
She then headed back to the living room, where the ninja were still standing, and plopped down on the couch. She motioned for them to sit, but they chose to remain standing. Or, at least Lloyd silently told them to stay standing, because Jay and Cole very much wanted to sit down and eat something.  
"I assume you have tons of questions," she said "Shoot"  
"Who are you?" Nya asked.  
"Ah, here we have it, the most predictable question. Who am I?" she took a sip of her soda "Well, my name is Aya Kuroichi, but I don't think that tells you much about me. But if I tell you I'm Morro's little sister, now that will cause a reaction, hm?"  
Indeed, the ninja were now sending uncertain glances her way, Jay even not-so-subtly walking backwards towards the window. Aya chuckled lightly.  
"Don't worry. As far as I know, he's very much dead. And I didn't turn to the dark side like him. We're like Wu and Garmadon, one evil, one good. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so a long time ago"  
"But- if you're Morro's sister, you would have to be well over fifty, maybe even sixty. And you look quite young" Nya pointed out.  
"Perks of being stuck in the ghost realm for a few decades. You don't age"  
"You were in there too? How come we didn't see you when they invaded?" Jay asked.  
"Because, there were hundreds of ghosts running around. And I decided to run away instead of staying in the battle"  
"Wait, you were a ghost?! How did you turn back?"  Cole asked, trying not to get his hopes up.  
"I'll explain later. For now, how about I tell you my story, yeah?"  
_It all started the day Morro decided to go looking for food in the trash cans near the monastery. As you know, Wu caught him and decided to take him in to train him. But I guess Sensei Wu, as always, skipped a part of the story. You see, as soon as Wu offered him a place to stay, he came back to get me. Wu took us both in and trained us together. He got control over wind, while I got mastery over light. Everything was perfect, until he became obsessed with becoming the green ninja. And when Wu told him he just wasn't the chosen one, he was devastated. He had trained all his life to become the legend, and suddenly that one dream that he had allowed himself to have was stripped away. He started searching for the First Spinjitzu Master's Tomb. I saw him slowly destroying himself, and tried to stop him. When I finally reached him, he was too far gone. Still, I didn't give up. So we fought, sibling against sibling, but in the end, we were both dragged down to the ghost realm. Morro quickly made himself known there, and formed bonds with the ones that ruled over the place. Me... I kept to the shadows. I survived by making sure no one knew about my existence. I knew I'd become a target if word got around that the great Morro had a sister. So, we slowly drifted apart. I didn't know what he was planning until it actually happened. I hadn't really talked to him in years. So when an escape appeared, nothing was holding me back, so I took it, and ran as far away as I could. Somehow, I shifted back into a human, with only this scar as a reminder of what I'd once been. And I've been living here for the past few months, slowly adjusting to this way of life. Until today, when I saw the news, and decided I wouldn't keep to the margins anymore._  
"So you see, I won't follow my brother's footsteps and become evil. I wanna help you guys in defeating this new enemy"  
"Well, we usually don't accept anyone new... It's just that we can fight coordinately, and understand each other without speaking. That balance would break"  
"I know. But I still think you could use my help. For starters, none of you can really go out without the whole city coming after you. And, I have somewhat of an idea as to what this new enemy is"  
That spiked the ninja's interest.  
-x-  
"Damn it! We gotta go faster, Nya!" Kai cried, as he indeed sped up with his motorcycle.  
Ronin continued chasing both siblings through the desert, his ship faster than their vehicles, so he started gaining distance on them.  
"Watch out!" Nya said as she stopped her motorcycle abruptly, a wall of rock blocking their path.  
Kai slowed down too, leaving a cloud of smoke behind him.  
"This wasn't supposed to be here..." he said.  
"What do we do now?" Nya asked worriedly.  
"Now you come with me," Ronin said behind them.  
He pushed a few buttons in his ship, causing two nets to shoots forward, successfully immobilizing the two ninja. Carrying them into the ship was much easier without the two constantly kicking and punching in a desperate need to escape.  
"Two down, four to go" the bounty hunter smirked.  
-x-  
Ronin captured Jay and Cole at the amusement park, and he got Lloyd and Zane at the library. Aya, who was with them, managed to pass for a civilian and avoid getting captured too.   
The ninja walked into the prison, with special shackles around their wrists, preventing them from using their powers. The policeman sent one last glare their way and shut the door to their cell.  
Jay groaned "I told you guys we should have stayed at the apartment!"  
The rest of them all sent incredulous looks his way.  
"You were the one that was complaining that you didn't want to be locked up like a zoo animal, idiot" Kai retorted.  
"I meant that in, uh... opposite world?" he tried.  
Nya rolled her eyes at that, but still smiled slightly.  
"But seriously, how are we getting out of here again?" Cole asked.  
They all turned to Lloyd at that.  
"Why are you all looking at me?"  
"Aren't you supposed to be the one with the plan?"  
"Well, yeah, but not all the time. We're a team, remember?"  
“Well whatever we do, we gotta hurry,” Nya said “the demon king is only getting stronger each day that passes by”  
“I know” Lloyd rubbed his forehead exasperatedly, sometimes he wished someone else had been chosen as the green ninja, that someone else had to be the leader.  
“Demon King, you said?” A voice said from the side.  
They all turned, to find Captain Soto and his crew in the adjoining cell.  
“You know anything about it?” Kai asked.  
“Only what the lore says”  
“Tell us” Kai demanded.  
“What will you give me in return?”  
“I won’t incinerate you, that’s what” that comment only earned him a smack on the back of his head, courtesy of Nya.  
“We don’t go around threatening civilians” she scolded.  
“Yes, mom” he mocked, which only caused another smack to come his way.  
“We’ll take you with us once we escape” Lloyd offered.  
“Escaping would be a violation of the law,” Zane said in a robotic voice, confused “We must wait until we are convicted and the jury decides a sentence for us”  
“Zane, buddy, we really need to find a way to turn this whole ‘violation of the law’ thing off,” Cole said, rolling his eyes.  
“Do we have a deal?” Kai asked Soto, igniting the brief exchange between his teammates.  
“Fine” he agreed “I don’t really know much, we were only told about the demons at sea. But I do know a bit about the origins...  
_You’ve all heard about the battle between the First Spinjitzu Master and the Overlord. Well, us sailors know a different version. Instead of only being one evil being, there were hundreds. Armies of dark creatures, called demons. All in varying classes and skills. And they were led by Asmodeus, King of Demons. He had four lieutenants: Astaroth, Thamuz, Vassago, and Sabbath. Each were specifically created to combat one of the golden weapons. The Overlord was just one of the generals, but the one that survived the most. The cleverest. So the First Spinjitzu Master was able to defeat Asmodeus and its kin by sending them into a foreign dimension. He split the continent in two, leaving the corrupted lands where the battle had taken place stranded somewhere far from Ninjago. He vanquished all but the Overlord, who he fought later on. And the foot soldiers under the Overlord, which turned into sea demons, waiting until they would be called to arms again. And that’s why sailors should never go too far from land: the sea demons might sink their ships, drown the sailors and then eat them._  
“Did the legend say how to defeat them?” Zane asked.  
“It just said that the First Spinjitzu Master used the four golden weapons to open a portal to another realm and send the demons off. Nothing specific”  
“But the golden weapons don’t exist anymore...” Jay said  
“Physically, no. They live on inside each one of you” Soto said “Kai, the red ninja of fire. Zane, the white ninja of ice. Jay, the blue ninja of lighting. Cole, the black ninja of earth”  
“So, we combine our powers? Like the tornado of creation?” Cole asked.  
“I have no idea. You should find more information in some library” Soto shrugged.  
“Thanks for your help” Lloyd said.  
“I held my end of the deal. It’s time for you to uphold yours” was the pirate’s only reply.  
“Tonight,” Lloyd said “Just be ready”  
But suddenly, alarms started blaring all over the place, starting chaos. The police patrolling around took out their guns and ran for the entrance, leaving the prisoners only guarded by about five other cops.  
“Find the fugitive! Immediately!” The ninja heard a cop screaming into his radio.  
Just then, a hooded figure dropped down from the roof, right in front of the ninja’s cell.  
“Miss me?” Anya grinned, while she blasted a hole in the lock with a light beam. She flung the door open. “Let’s go. We only have a few seconds before they notice no one actually escaped. Well, apart from you guys”  
“Hey!” Soto yelled indignantly from his cell, “we had a deal!”  
“Right,” Lloyd said, “free him too”  
“Why?” She eyed the pirates in disdain.  
“We made a deal. I’ll explain later”  
She decided not to argue and blasted a hole through their lock too. Then she proceeded to open the ninja’s shackles, and together they escaped the prison.  
-x-  
The next few days they decided to stay in the apartment. Only Aya went out, once to get books from the library, and the second time to buy more food and drinks. They avoided even standing too close to the windows, since the whole damn country would be on alert, now that the ninja had escaped from prison.  
They did as much research as they could, getting lore from books and the internet, pasting things on the walls and connecting everything, like a huge puzzle. But they still hadn’t found anything on how to beat the demon king. Wu was still in prison, and they had decided to wait a few more days until everything calmed down a bit to risk going and getting him and Misako out.  
They all couldn’t help but think that this was probably going to be the hardest villain to beat yet. They had had a hard time ensuring the downfall of the Overlord (Zane even had to sacrifice himself), and now it turned out that he was only a lesser one of his kind.  
The tv was turned on in the news channel, just to see what was going on and if anything alarming happened. But it was mostly background noise, with one of them sometimes bothering to check it. Music was being blasted at full volume though. Aya has proved that it helped them relax a bit, and focus more on their work.  
“So, apparently he also has a wife. Lillith, Queen of demons. And there were rumors of an heir-“ Nya was suddenly interrupted by the tv blaring an ‘Emergency News Flash’.  
They all ceased whatever they were doing, and turned their attention to the tv.  
“Jamanakai village is under attack. We’re not sure by what exactly, since our reporters are too afraid to go and investigate. But from what we can see from the helicopter, there’s some kind of black smoke slowly spreading over the village. Screams can be heard even from up here. And now that the ninja have gone rogue, we pray that someone or something else will take mercy on us and save the villagers...” the image on the tv was unfocused, but it indeed showed the unfortunate village slowly being consumed by black smoke.  
“That village sure has some bad luck,” Jay said.  
“This is a perfect opportunity for you to redeem yourselves,” Hologram-PIXAL said.  
“Yeah” Nya agreed.  
“So, I guess we’re off to saving that village for the millionth time” Cole said.  
“Let’s go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, I know. I’m sorry. I’ll try to make the others longer.  
> I know having an OC as the main character can be quite annoying, so I’ll try to keep Aya to the margins and focus more on the ninja on this rewrite. I could probably take her out, but I don’t feel like it.  
> I already have half of the next chapter written on gdocs, so hopefully an update will come fast.  
> Please review!  
> -Emma


	3. Trapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ninjago, if I did, the characters wouldn't have been completely screwed up after the movie for "commodity of new fans". And I most certainly don't make any money out of this.  
> Also, UN-BETA'D. I read it over twice, but I apologize if I left in any mistakes.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

 

“Idiot!” Clouse bellowed “When I sad cause chaos, _I didn’t mean lay fucking waste to a whole damned village!_ ”

“I incriminated the ninja, as you asked” Asmodeus argued “I haven’t seen the real world in centuries, I was fucking _bored_ ”

“But now you have given the ninja an opportunity to redeem themselves! You just ruined a crucial part of the plan!”

“May I remind you I am still the King of Demons. I fought against the First Spinjitzu Master that first time. You are not the boss of me”

“I know that! I got you to sign that goddamned contract for a reason! But we’ll lose the war if you keep acting by yourself”

“I am perfectly capable of taking over this world on my own. I didn’t spend all of those years trapped in that horrid realm just lazing around. My armies are better trained”

“Don’t underestimate the ninja, that’s a mistake you’ll hugely regret. They possess the powers of the golden weapons. If they figure out how to use them, they can easily send you back or worse, kill you”

Clouse sighed. It would have been much better if the demon would completely submit to his wishes. But of course, there had to be a price to pay to be able to wield such power.

Asmodeus was really the only one who could get under his skin enough to make him lose his perfect composure.

“There might be something good coming out of this anyways...” he stayed silent for a few seconds “Samukai!” He called.

Said skeleton came rushing in.

“What?” He said in a bored tone.

“Is the device ready?”

“How would I know?”

“Isn’t that what you’re in charge of?”

“Yeah. But I’m not the one building it so I have no goddamn idea” he rolled his eyes.

“Well, find out!”

“Yes, your highness” he bowed mockingly.

He came back a few minutes later.

“The nindroid whose name I’ve already forgotten said if you really need it, he can probably finish it in a week or two”

“I can’t wait that long! Tell him to hurry up. And tell Pythor to get his copter ready. We’re going ninja hunting”

-x-

Kai swung his sword made of fire once more, beheading another demon. He was panting, his magic almost drained. His back was pressed to the only door to the house full of civilians he was defending, demons surrounding him on all sides.

It had been madness as soon as they’d arrived, immediately jumping into action. The villagers had at first cowered from them, but when they saw the ninja were actually fighting the demons and not helping the evil beings, they had trusted them again.

Their first task was to round them all up together, for easier defending. Kai, Jay, Zane, and Cole were each defending a house full of civilians, while Lloyd, Nya, and Aya were in charge of killing them all.

They had later realized that powers associated with goodness, like fire and light, were the most effective against the darkness of the demons. So it probably would have been best that Kai and Nya swapped places, but it was too late now.

The demons kept closing in, and there were too many. Kai wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep them at bay for much longer. He was drained and tired, his magic lagging. He would soon have to switch to a real sword instead of one made of fire, which would surely complicate things. But, ninja didn’t quit.

He only hoped that someone came up with a plan to save them all. And soon. He was too tired to think of one himself. The fight had been going on for too long now.

“Ha!” Jay zapped another demon, melting it “Take that! And that! You don’t mess with the blue ninja!”

But in truth, he was tiring too. There was a blacksmith fighting alongside him, but he wasn’t sure if he was actually helping or preventing Jay from unleashing himself fully.

Suddenly, they were all saved when a bright pulse of energy wiped out all remaining demons. The four ninja defending the households let out a sigh of relief. They told the civilians not to come out yet, and headed for the agreed meeting point, scouting the streets on their way there to make sure no demons were left alive.

“What was that?” Cole asked as soon as he arrived, and then rushed to support the three ninja once he saw what state they were in.

The three were almost passing out from exhaustion, whatever move they had pulled apparently having left them completely drained.

Nya leaned on Kai, Lloyd leaned on Cole, and Aya just preferred to fall to the floor.

“Wu showed me a move a long time ago,” Aya said, “he said only to use it in times of desperate need, and we were about to be crushed, so...”

It was then that Kai noticed their bloodied palms. He grabbed Nya’s hand and examined the cut. It wasn’t deep, but blood still flowed. Zane immediately appeared by his side and bandaged her hand.

“What did you do?” The fire ninja glared at the light master.

“Our powers draw on our energy to function. It’s like running, the more you run, the more you use energy, the more you get tired. And if you exert yourself too much, you can damage your muscles. So, when your energy runs out, your power starts feeding on your vital energy, which can cause death. So there’s a method to share energies to someone else, in case of desperate need. There are better bonds, this was just a crude binding. Nya and I transferred whatever energy we had left to Lloyd, so he was able to create that blast” Aya explained.

“So for next time, we could just transfer energy to you, Lloyd and Kai?” Zane asked.

“Not exactly. Each flow of energy is different... I’m not in the mood to explain everything. But in summary, without a proper binding spell, it’s too risky”

“Then we do a proper spell of those” Lloyd said.

“We could try... it’s too complicated though”

“How pessimist” Jay muttered.

“So if the other plan doesn’t work out, we could use this as a last resort to defeat Asmodeus?” Kai asked, igniting the lighting ninja’s little comment.

“I guess” Aya answered.

She slowly levered herself away from the floor until she was standing again.

“Ninjago doesn’t hate us anymore,” Jay said, “What now?”

“We should keep trying to find a way to bring that big-ass demon down, right?” Cole said.

“We have to get Sensei Wu and Misako first” Nya pointed out.

The rest nodded in agreement.

“And get the hell out of here before the place is swarming with the press,” Kai said.

Zane pushed a few buttons in his arms, and then yelled “It’s safe to come out now!”, his voice amplified by some internal mechanism.

The villagers tentatively started emerging from the four safe-houses. And once they didn’t see any danger, they started cheering for the ninja.

“It feels good to be back,” Kai said smugly.

-x-

Astaroth, one of the four demon lieutenants, opposite to fire, had been watching everything unfold from a rooftop, hidden by the shadows.

The blast of light hadn’t affected him much, given that the demons they’d sent to attack were the lowest class, and not really that hard to kill. The ninja had struggled just because they were vastly outnumbered.

But still, he had to admit he was a bit impressed by their abilities. There was a lot of raw talent there, they only needed more training. Once they did, their power would be... unimaginable. Too bad they would make sure the heroes didn’t get a chance to actually harness their full potential.

He had to notify this to his master, but first, this was a golden opportunity to catch some of those pesky little heroes. He put a hand to the device installed on his ear, and spoke in a dark, grumbly voice:

“Clouse? Yes... they’re here... yes, they’re drained... no, don’t do that... tell Pythor to get his lazy ass over here so we can get ourselves a prize... no, not that one, he’s lame… tell him to get the green one... I don’t give a shit about his name... just get here” he ended the call abruptly.

Puny little mortal. He was very naïve if he really thought he could control Asmodeus. This whole grand plan of his would blow up in his face sooner or later. Demons didn’t _share_.

A few seconds later, just as the villagers had erupted into cheers, two dark purple helicopters with a smoky look approached the village. Astaroth couldn’t help but face-palm. So much for being inconspicuous.

Before the ninja could react, seven nets were shot down from the helicopters. Their shitty aim only managed to get them three caught though: the red, the green and the purple one. But the red one was quick to think, and he cut his net with a ray of fire.

The other two were too tired, and by the time they realized what was happening, the two flying machines had already disappeared.

The other five ninja immediately mounted their dragons, but everything had happened so fast, and since they were drained, they had reacted too slow. They spread out through the sky in an attempt to maybe catch whatever had taken their friends, but the villains had already teleported far from their reach.

Astaroth smirked, and with a snap of his fingers, he too teleported back to their lair.

-x-

Lloyd slowly regained consciousness, and the first thing he noticed was the pounding in his head. He groaned, taking a hand to his forehead, as his eyes fluttered open, slowly adjusting to the dim light.

Memories from the battle suddenly came back to him, which did nothing to help his headache. The last thing he remembered was the net catching him, and then something pinching his arm... and then black.

He looked around, noticing he was in a cell in a dungeon. Like the ones in movies, made of rock, with no windows, all dirty and mossy with a few spiderwebs on the corner. And the place _reeked_ of piss and unwashed bodies. And, there was Aya laying in a corner, still unconscious.

The green ninja closed his eyes for a few seconds, hoping the pounding in his head would diminish. When it didn’t work, he made his way over to where Aya was and shook her awake.

She groaned as she slowly regained consciousness as well, feeling a massive headache coming on. She looked around and furrowed her brow in confusion when she didn’t recognize the place.

“Where the hell are we?” She asked.

“Looks like we have been taken by the demons”

“Figured as much”

She closed her eyes and concentrated, and furrowed her brown even further when she couldn’t control her powers. Her energy had recharged to max again, meaning quite some time had passed, and while she could feel it there, she couldn’t quite summon it, the strings to manipulate it keeping just out of her reach.

“Can you use your powers?” She asked.

He hadn’t really tried using them yet. But when he tried to summon a simple ball of green energy... he just couldn’t. The inability to control his magic was unfamiliar, and a feeling of unease settled in his chest. He checked his body to see if he still carried any of his hidden weapons, but found none. Not much a surprise to find them gone though.

“I... can’t”

She sighed and opened back her eyes.

“We need to find a way out. And fast”

“We gotta form a plan. See the rotations of the guards, the times they feed us. Then we can guess what the best escape route is…”

-x-

Time passed, and the two ninja still hadn’t really found a pattern in the rotations, or when they received food. Almost like it was generated randomly.

Without a pattern to follow, they would have to break out by force, not stealth, and fight their way out. Normally, it shouldn’t have been a problem, but since their powers were still out of their reach and they didn’t have weapons, they didn’t have many options. It wouldn’t be easy.

Then they thought whatever was keeping them from using their magic must be a drug in their food or water supply, so they decided to hold out as long as they could without touching them.

And so time passed by, they weren’t sure how long it had been, but boredom had taken over them. So they ended up talking about many things, a lot being stuff that they hadn’t really discussed with anyone else. And they slowly grew closer, getting to know each other better, growing familiar with the other.

Nothing really surprising happened. The villains didn’t seem to have a plan for them apart for keeping them locked up.

Sometime after deciding to stop eating, right when they were about to give in and have a sip of water, they felt their powers slowly waking up again.

Lloyd was the first. They had been in a middle of one of their conversations, both laughing at a comment the green ninja had made, when he felt his magic returning to him. It was just a small portion, the full extent of his power still stubbornly staying out of his reach, but at least it was something. He suddenly felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, like he could breathe again, like a vital part of him had suddenly come back. He hadn’t realized how much he’d grown accustomed to always having his magic there.

The shackles at the prison had been different, only having blocked them, not really having them being taken away.

He let out a small gasp and took a hand to his chest, his eyes closing.

“Lloyd? You okay?” Aya asked, a hint of worry showing on her features.

Opening his eyes, he tentatively put out a hand in front of him and summoned a ball of green energy. He sighed in relief once the sphere actually appeared.

“I’m okay,” he said, grinning.

Aya’s eyes widened once she saw the sphere floating in Lloyd’s hand. She reached inwardly, but her own powers hadn’t come back.

“I guess we should try to make a run for it now,” he said.

“Yeah”

“Yours?”

She shook her head.

“Should we try and wait to see if they come back?”

“Maybe an hour, yes. Any more, and we’ll probably die from dehydration”

He nodded in agreement.

“What if...” an idea popped into his head, “So, from what you explained, the energy’s here, but the drug is blocking our ability to shape it into our elemental abilities. Could you transfer your energy to me? Like we did back at the village?”

She thought about it for a moment.

“Probably. I don’t know for sure though”

“We’d get a better shot at escaping if we can make this work”

“Yeah. It will be risky though. I can’t manipulate my own energy, so I can’t control how much I give to you. You’d have to draw it on your own, and if you take too much...”

“...I could kill you”

She nodded. “And injure yourself badly from using too much energy at once… I’m willing to take the risk though” she said.

“You sure?”

She only nodded in response.

He offered her a light smile and stood up, leaning heavily on the wall as a wave of dizziness washed over him. The lack of food and water would be a huge obstacle.

He handed his hand to her and helped her up. He picked up a small stone with a sharp edge and cut his palm open, over the nearly healed wound he’d made to himself during the attack on the village, and then handed the stone to Aya, who imitated his movements.

They joined their bloodied palms and interlaced their fingers, suddenly feeling the powerful energy flowing between them. They stood there for a moment to help adjust to this new feeling before Lloyd pushed himself off the wall and blasted a hole through the lock.

The guard, who had been dozing off, suddenly turned towards the source of the noise, eyes widening. But before he could either try to attack both ninja or sound the alarm, Aya had already run forward, dragging Lloyd along, and kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying back to the wall. They checked that he was unconscious and ran up the stairs.

They would try to be stealthy, but they were sure they would end up having to fight their way out anyway.

“You do realize we have no idea as to where the exit is?” Aya said.

“It’s our best shot”

“True. But-“

An arrow wedging itself at her feet interrupted whatever she’d been about to say. The both looked up and found a scout standing on the wall above them. Lloyd got rid of him in a few seconds, but too late, since the sentinel had already sounded the alarm.

Swarms of lesser demon-guards surrounded them, and it was impossible to fight their way out. Lloyd blasted pulses of his power out like he had done in the village, but the demons just kept coming and coming, no matter how many he vaporized.

“What do we do now?” Aya asked, feeling slightly panicked.

She suddenly gasped, as Lloyd drew a considerable amount of her energy. He was careful not to draw on too much though.

He let go of her hand, and she looked at him confused.

“Stay close,” he said, which was followed by a “Ninja-GO!”

Aya rolled her eyes, and Spinjitzued her way out, following Lloyd.

It was far much easier to carve a road out like this.

The lair was apparently a maze of underground caves and tunnels. The army of demons kept following them, so they didn’t have a second to rest if they wanted to avoid getting captured again.

They kept to the right side of the walls, using the trick that was supposed to lead them out of any maze. Jay and Kai had gotten into a heated argument about it once.

Apparently, Jay had been right, because after some time they actually could see outside light not very far away. Lloyd let out a small cry of relief, his legs almost giving out underneath him. It was so close...

But of course, nothing in their life could be solved easily. Because just as they were about to finally exit the place, a metal door fell down from the roof, completely sealing off their way out.

Lloyd shot ray after ray of energy at it in an attempt to clear the exit again, but his attacks just bounced off.

“No!” They both pounded their fists against it.

Aya kept trying to focus on getting her powers to work again, surely the heat of her light beams would work better than Lloyd’s abilities...

“ _Goddammit_!”

They desperately looked around for another way out but found none. They were now at a dead end, and although there were probably other ways out, that meant having to go through the pack of demons following them, and then out-running them long enough to find another exit. Which would prove to be impossible, given how much of a toll the lack of food and the spending of their powers had taken on them.

Of course, they would still try to make it out. After all, ninja never quit.

Right when the demons were closing in again, Aya’s powers finally returned. _Great timing_ , she thought sarcastically. In a last attempt to escape, she focused her power on the metal door, creating an extremely hot ray of light.

The beam went through.

But it was too late. Demons swarmed around them, sealing their way to the exit. Too tired to Spinjitzu their way out again, they fought with only their fists. Until someone drugged them again, and blackness claimed them both.

-x-

“You _idiots_!” Clouse was beyond himself this time.

First, the attack on the village that threw away his whole plan. Now, the two ninja he’d managed to capture were a breath’s away to escape.

“You useless fools! They could’ve gotten away today!”

“Calm the fuck down” Eurynome, princess of demons, heir to Asmodeus, exclaimed. “They didn’t get away”

“But they could have! This is all proving to be too tedious” he rubbed at his temples, “I want security at the dungeons doubled, and have some goddamned cameras installed”

“That weird machine of yours will be ready by the time the drug wears off on those two” Krux said, “use it, and they can be on their way”

“What do you mean _on their way_?!”

“You are going to let them go, are you not?”

“Of course not! They know too much”

“They know nothing. Feed them incorrect information, and it can even be used to your advantage”

“Hmm... nice thinking. Good job Krux”

The ghost only rolled her eyes.

“Tell the snake I want it charged and ready to go as soon as those two wake up,” he told to a random nindroid passing by. “It’s time to move to the next stage”.

-x-

Meanwhile, back at the Destiny’s Bounty, the ninja didn’t know what else to do. It had been little more than a week, and they had searched high and low but hadn’t found Lloyd and Aya.

The citizens of Ninjago had gone back to treating them like heroes, having forgotten that they had betrayed them so easily. Some of their fans had gone out on a march holding up ‘we’re sorry we ever doubted you!’ posters, but it really didn’t mean anything. They would betray them again without a doubt if given enough reason.

They had gotten Sensei Wu and Misako back, and they had verified the truth in Aya’s story. Honestly, the ninja weren’t even surprised anymore that their Sensei had kept part of the story from them anymore.

“We’ve searched everywhere!” Jay said, exasperated, “it’s like they vanished off the face of the earth!”

“Maybe not everywhere...” Kai said, deep in thought, “okay, so villains usually like to keep things the old way. And we know Asmodeus had a lot of hideouts through the place during the war, or at least on the dark side of the island. What if he also had a hideout on this side?”

“There’s no record of it,” Zane said.

“Yeah, and we’ve searched underground too,” Cole said.

“But only the sewers and the places were serpentine live” he turned to Sensei Wu, “Sensei, could I be right? Could the demon king have a lair somewhere around here?”

“Well... I do believe there might be a possibility that he did build something here, like a backup”

“Nice thinking, brother” Nya congratulated him.

“Zane, could you map out the underground? Not just the known places, but find out if there’s something else down there?”

“PIXAL, can we?”

“ _Permission to hack a satellite?_ ”

“Go ahead”

A few minutes of silence, then

“ _Scan complete. I am now transferring the images to the bridge, it will be displaying as a 3D map_ ”

As in on cue, a blue hologram displayed on the center table, showing a map of below Ninjago. They immediately recognized the sewers and serpentine lairs, but there were a few caved-in mines and other places they didn’t know what to make of.

The ninja studied the map, trying to find the most logical place for a thousand-year-old demon hideout.

“Here,” Zane said, pointing at the very center of the map.

It displayed a large room, with a few smaller adjacent ones, and quite a lot of tunnels spreading in every direction.

“PIXAL, fade out everything but this part,” he said, motioning the piece he’d shown them before.

She did as told.

“What’s above this?” Zane asked.

“ _It’s... right below that building where Lloyd defeated the Overlord the first time. I don’t know how I never noticed it before, but there should be a way in from the basement_ ”

“So since we have no other leads, should we go check this out?” Cole said.

“Sound like a plan!” Jay said excitedly.

“Wait, wouldn’t it be better if we went in through a side entrance?” Kai said.

“So in case it is their lair, we won’t be in much trouble” Nya agreed.

“ _The best way in would be through this north passage”_ PIXAL marked a tunnel on the map.

“Fly us over the entrance?” Zane asked her.

“ _It’s on the farthest up north part of the city. We’ll be arriving when the sun comes up”_

“Wake me once we get there,” Zane told PIXAL, who only nodded.

“Good job ninja” Sensei Wu congratulated them.

“Thank you, Sensei,” Jay said.

“Get a night’s sleep. We leave at dawn” Kai said.

“Who made you the leader, huh?” Jay fired.

“Since Lloyd’s gone, it’s obvious I’m the next in line-“

“I thought we’d agreed there were no leaders since that time with Morro,” Zane said.

“Well, this guy thinks he’s the leader” Jay jabbed his thumb in Kai’s direction.

“And now you’re picking a fight just because you can” Cole smacked him lightly in the back of the head.

“Kai’s right anyway _._ We better get some sleep” Nya said.

They all nodded and headed for their separate rooms.

-x-

This time it was Aya the one who woke first.

But as she looked around, she noticed that Lloyd had been placed in the cell next to hers, not in the same as hers anymore.

And her powers were back to zero usability.

She groaned, massaging her temples. Escape wouldn’t be so easy this time.

“Glad you’re finally awake,” a voice said.

She froze as she recognized it.

_No... it can’t be... he’s dead._

She looked around, trying to find the source of that voice.

Until her eyes landed on the ghostly figure. A flood of emotions came rushing into her: relief, betrayal, slight guilt, confusion...

She snapped back to focus, her features turning cold and unyielding.

“You!” Her voice was filled with rage as she pointed a finger at him in accusation.

“Hello, little sister” Morro smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, lately I’ve been obsessed with the manipulation of energy, as you may have noticed. I’m not really sure how much of what I put in my stories is actual theory or how much I made up.  
> I think the theories fit quite well into this world though. But I want to keep it as canon as possible, so I’m wondering how much of it would you like me to include, or if not at all. I do personally believe it can turn out pretty well if I manage to blend it in well.  
> Some examples of energy manipulation: telepathy (I think this would fit nicely), telekinesis (though this seems like another power completely), teleportation (another power too), enhanced sight and hearing, etc. You can also suggest your own ideas.  
> Also, please tell me if you’d like a longer explanation on how this whole energy thing works. Because it’s pretty clear in my mind, but I don’t know if I’m missing some crucial points for better understanding of everyone.  
> So yeah. Sorry for the long note.  
> Please comment your opinions on this whole energy manipulation thing!  
> And review on the chapter!


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